page_title: Traffic sign
section_title: Categories
hierarchical_section_title: Traffic sign / Categories
caption_attribution_description: العربية: إشارة مرور في الأردن تخبر السائق ان عليه التقيد بحدود السرعة وهي كما تخبر الإشارة 60 كم/ساعة.
context_page_description: Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduced, for example the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony.
  With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, and enhance traffic safety. Such pictorial signs use symbols in place of words and are usually based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees.
context_section_description: Traffic signs can be grouped into several types. For example, Annexe 1 of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1968), which on 30 June 2004 had 52 signatory countries, defines eight categories of signs:
  A. Danger warning signs
  B. Priority signs
  C. Prohibitory or restrictive signs
  D. Mandatory signs
  E. Special regulation signs
  F. Information, facilities, or service signs
  G. Direction, position, or indication signs
  H. Additional panels
  In the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand signs are categorized as follows:
  Regulatory signs
  Warning signs
  Guide signs
  Street name signs
  Route marker signs
  Expressway signs
  Freeway signs
  Welcome signs
  Informational signs
  Recreation and cultural interest signs
  Emergency management (civil defense) signs
  Temporary traffic control (construction or work zone) signs
  School signs
  Railroad and light rail signs
  Bicycle signs
  In the United States, the categories, placement, and graphic standards for traffic signs and pavement markings are legally defined in the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as the standard.
  A rather informal distinction among the directional signs is the one between advance directional signs, interchange directional signs, and reassurance signs. Advance directional signs appear at a certain distance from the interchange, giving information for each direction. A number of countries do not give information for the road ahead (so-called "pull-through" signs), and only for the directions left and right. Advance directional signs enable drivers to take precautions for the exit (e.g., switch lanes, double check whether this is the correct exit, slow down).
  They often do not appear on lesser roads, but are normally posted on expressways and motorways, as drivers would be missing exits without them. While each nation has its own system, the first approach sign for a motorway exit is mostly placed at least 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) from the actual interchange. After that sign, one or two additional advance directional signs typically follow before the actual interchange itself.
caption: Speed limit traffic sign in Jordan
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